FEBRUARY 21, 1999
Dear Children,
Let me tell you about the grasshopper that got stuck in the rain barrel behind the barn.
I was weeding the garden and I stopped for a rest, because it was very warm. After a while, I took the empty water bucket over to the rain barrel to get some water to put on the garden. Lo and behold, there was a grasshopper on top of the water trying his very best to hop out of the water he was floating in. He hopped and hopped but wasn’t going anywhere.
As I watched him, I knew what would happen. Soon that hopper would get tired and just drown and go right down to the bottom! So, should I help him or not?
Well , when I was 14 years old, that is 53 years ago, God saved me from going down to hell. He looked down from heaven and saw me lost in sin, and He gave me this beautiful verse from the holy Bible : “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). I believed it and was saved! The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus also gave a verse to a man named Nicodemus. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). Nicodemus believed that the word “whosoever” meant him, and he believed what Jesus said and was saved too.
We sing a chorus in Sunday school that goes like this :
That means me, that means me,
“Whosoever will believe,” and
that means me.
I am so very glad because the
Saviour said,
“Whosoever will believe,” and
that means me.
Well , I felt sorry for that hopper, so I gently put my hand underneath him. As soon as he felt my hand, he gathered strength in his hind legs, gave a mighty shove with those legs, and out he jumped! Boy, was he glad to be free! One moment ready to drown, the next moment, FREE! Children, are you ready for heaven? Are you free from your sins?
That grasshopper doesn’t know who set him free, but I not only know who set me free, I sing about Him! “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit . . . set my feet upon a rock . . . and He hath put a new song in my mouth” (Psalm 40:23).
Children, I hope that one of you out there will trust the Lord Jesus Christ today!
Love, Grandpa
ML-02/21/1999